![]() ![]() Have students discuss how the words were placed on the page and why the author chose to write this way. “Verse that emphasizes nonlinguistic elements in its meaning, such as a typeface that creates a visual image of the topic.” ( Concrete Poetry from the Poetry Foundation) This is a great time to pull in some information on concrete poetry. The text is deliberately organized into meaningful arrangements. This story does not follow the traditional left to right print students are familiar with in picture books. Make sure to have students use these while they write their own stories! These words are added to their own collections. As they read other student’s writing, other books, and really any text, they find words that interest them. I have also had students begin collecting their own words on a graphic organizer or in their journals. Other students could pull the sticks to use in their own writing. Now they could also be shared, similar to the story, with the world. The sticks were collected in the plastic holder. As students discovered strong words to replace the overused words, they would write the new words on popsicle sticks. ![]() After reading the story, the class decided on some words that were overused. I used a plastic shoe holder to create a class collection. You can have a “class collection” or independent collections. I will go so far as to say K-12! After reading this story with the students, discussing, and studying it (there is SO MUCH to see) have students become word collectors themselves. This should be a required mentor text for teaching word choice in writing. It should be required for word choice! Furthermore, any lover of words needs this book. Knowing that this book is out there in circulation, I don’t think you can have a Writers’ Workshop without this book. She must collect the words and share them with people so that they are used and remembered. ![]() “Luna collected words just like other people collected stamps: funny words, that tickle your palate when you say them, words so beautiful that they make you cry, friendly words that embrace your soul.” Luna collects words, because they’re disappearing due to inactivity. The pictures, the message, and the words are so captivating, you don’t even realize the energy your expending in order to read. For many of us traditionalists, this would be a turn off, but it’s not. The words flow throughout the page in multiple directions, at times the words have a scrapbook feel, the font and size change from word to word. You have to work at this one! It’s impossible to be a passive reader, you must attend to each page with interest and energy. Is she literally keeping words in the suitcase? Will she travel to many lands with her collection? What will she do with the words she’s collecting? There’s a girl who is carefully picking up letters and a cat guarding a suitcase. As a teacher it made me think about how my students scribble favorite words into their journals for later. As a reader, the scribbling behind the title made me start asking questions. Then I found myself sucked in to the cover, which is simple, but makes it impossible to not become engrossed. How could I resist this book? While browsing books online, this one caught my eye because of the title. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |